


The Chronicler

by t_shirt



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, Mild Language, briefly annoying Relena, mention of lemon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:41:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22564165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/t_shirt/pseuds/t_shirt
Summary: Duo learns a great deal about his perceptions of the wars when Hiiro returns during his deposition to the chronicler.
Relationships: 1x2 - Relationship, 3x4
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	The Chronicler

Post War Cannon  
1x2, 3x4  
Angst, fluff, mild language, mention of lemon, briefly annoying Relena

Summary: Duo learns a great deal about his perceptions of the wars when Hiiro returns during his deposition to the chronicler. 

‘Ha ha ha ha! You really thought that?’ Quatre laughed tucking one of his slender legs under him while he cuddled up comfortably to Trowa’s side. His lover sat, as always, quietly passive while they visited with their friends, but Quatre understood only too well the kinship he felt when in the presence of the other veteran Gundam pilots. 

‘Seriously,’ Hilde giggled refilling their tea cups. ‘I had a crush on him for the longest time after that,’ she confessed and Duo laughed recalling the first time his partner had seen the tall mercenary and the way she’d gone dreamy eyed while he did a one armed handstand on the back of a trotting lion while hiding in the circus during the war. ‘Just my luck though,’ she sighed relaxing back in the corner of the love seat. ‘All the best ones are either taken or gay,’ she chuckled. 

‘Or both,’ Trowa smirked slipping his arm around Quatre’s shoulder. 

‘Thanks a lot,’ Duo grumbled dejectedly. 

‘Oh, please,’ she exclaimed tossing a throw pillow at him. ‘There’s no way I could stand having a boyfriend who’s prettier than me,’ she teased. 

‘So you’re saying I’m not pretty?’ Trowa asked in an even monotone that made her question whether he was serious or not. 

‘Pretty isn’t the word I’d use for you,’ Hilde shrugged. 

‘I think you’re pretty,’ Quatre consoled smiling softly. 

‘Your bias,’ Trowa told him as his expression shifted into a rare reflection of the honesty he felt toward the slight blond while he leaned over and kissed him gently on the corner of his mouth. 

‘How about some snacks?’ Duo suggested changing the subject and breaking the bubble that had begun to form around the lovers, but before he made it through his small living room to the kitchen the doorbell rang. ‘Wufei! Hey, man!’ he smiled finding him on the other side. ‘Sally...come on in,’ he said making way for their guests. 

‘Hi, Wufei,’ Quatre smiled moving slightly away from Trowa’s side, but he left his arm on the couch behind him. 

Duo made the introductions between Sally and Hilde since they’d only met briefly once before and soon the group was settled in sipping their tea and reminiscing over their experiences during the Eve Wars. Wufei and Sally caught them up on news about the Mars Project where Zechs and Noin were making good progress. Wufei was still unable to speak much when it came to questions about his lost clan or the death of Treize, so they respectfully avoided those subjects sticking to more amusing things like their imprisonment on the lunar base. The subject of Quatre’s short encounter with Wing Zero was also neatly skirted around. However, leaving the great mecha and Hiiro out of the conversation when discussing the wars was impossible, though no one really knew just how much it bothered Duo to speak so casually about the missing war hero. 

‘I’ll never forget you two jumping out of that hospital like that,’ Sally sighed still seeming amazed. ‘It still confounds me how he didn’t end up a broken pile of glop,’ she said sitting straight backed in her chair as any good soldier would. 

Duo had always felt a little uneasy around her since she was the type that had not only kept her Preventer’s jacket on, but had it buttoned up all the way to the neck. 

‘He was defiantly resilient,’ Quatre agreed. ‘Did you ever get to see him work with a Leo? It really wasn’t the suit that made him special,’ he commented gaining a general murmur of agreement. 

‘It was he who brought the suit to life,’ Wufei interjected sternly. 

‘Well, that was true for all of you,’ Hilde agreed. 

‘Some more than others,’ Trowa tossed in quietly while he softly rubbed his thumb along the back of Quatre’s neck. 

‘I wonder what he decided to do,’ Quatre mused. 

‘Hey,’ Hilde cut in. ‘Isn’t it weird how he just disappeared like that?’ 

‘Hasn’t Relena heard anything at all?’ Quatre asked Sally and Wufei since they had regular meetings with her. 

‘Not a word,’ Sally supplied. 

‘That’s so odd,’ Quatre said absently leaning into Trowa’s side. ‘With the way he felt about her I thought for sure he’d keep in touch with her at least,’ he told them while his lovers arm slowly tightened around his shoulders. 

Trowa’s emerald eyes flecked between Sally and Wufei’s to gauge their reaction since to their knowledge they were unaware of the nature of their relationship, but neither of them appeared bothered by it, so he just relaxed and got comfortable. 

‘You haven’t heard from him either?’

‘…………….’

‘Duo?’

‘………..’

‘Duo!’ Hilde snipped since he had completely detached himself from the conversation and was staring blankly out the window at the evening. 

‘No,’ he finally replied unable to hide the pain in his tone. 

After all they’d been through and everything they’d faced together he just never understood how Hiiro could just up and disappear from their lives without even saying goodbye. 

‘Well, I hope he’s happy wherever he landed,’ Quatre smiled sipping his tea. 

Duo’s mind wandered back to the window and his thoughts of the blue eyed, Japanese pilot. He often wondered where he was during the war, what he was thinking and if he was well and nothing had really changed as he still found himself wondering if he ever stopped and took a moment just to look up at the moon. This was the first time all of the pilots had gotten together since the destruction of the Gundam’s, but no one had been able to find Hiiro to invite him. 

‘…be a big help to us if you’d consider it.’

‘What about you, Duo?’

‘Hm?,’ he hummed oblivious once again to what the others were talking about. 

‘What’s with you tonight?’ Hilde asked impatiently. ‘Sally just asked everyone to help them out by going to Earth for awhile.’

‘What? Why?’ Duo asked suddenly wishing he’d been paying attention. It wasn’t something he often spoke of, but he’d longed to return to Earth so many times since choosing his life on the colony, but he’d never found a good enough reason to make the move and leave Hilde alone. 

‘Well,’ Sally said apparently miffed that she was having to repeat herself. ‘The chronicler will only be there for about a month, but we could get twice the data recorded if all the pilots were in the same place,’ she explained. 

‘Chronicler?’ Duo repeated. ‘They’re going to record the circumstances of the wars?’ he asked needlessly. 

‘That’s the idea,’ Wufei confirmed. ‘I, for one, aim to make sure there is truth to their accounts,’ he told them resolutely. 

‘What’s the difference?’ Duo sighed. He’d love to see Earth again and this seemed like a very good opportunity to return and free him from his current responsibilities, but he really didn’t see the point in these records. 

‘Duo?’ Hilde breathed clearly shocked he hadn’t jumped on the idea. 

‘No matter what they put in them the records will never be complete,’ he told them. ‘Not without Hiiro.’ 

The rest of the evening passed quickly with each of the others agreeing to meet on Earth and make their statements, but Duo decided to stay on L2 and give his via the vid phone. It would be much harder and left everyone feeling a bit let down, but when it came right down to it talking about the war was going to be hard enough without having Hiiro’s absence shoved down his throat. 

*

‘You got an evaporator for a Z9 Teklin?’

‘Ummm sure…but I’ll have to pull it. Do you want to come back this afternoon?’ Duo asked his anxious customer.

‘How long could it take?’ the guy asked shifting the bulk of his impressive weight to the other chubby foot. 

‘At least an hour.’

‘What? Damn, boy, it’s not brain surgery!’ the guy groused. No, but it was buried under the bulk head of the standard Jack Cruiser in the lower part of the yard and probably had about ten years of rust on the bolts holding it in.

‘Like I said,’ he told him again ‘You can come back this afternoon…’

‘I don’t have time for this shit,’ the guy grumbled. ‘Okay...guess I’ll just hafta wait then,’ he said giving Duo this look like `hurry up`.

‘Asshole!’ Duo swore when he busted another knuckle trying to break the evaporator free. ‘Like I’ve got nothing else to do but drop everything and shake my ass for him! Ow! Damn it!’ he growled throwing the offending wrench at the stubborn part in frustration. 

His mind flashed back on other times when he’d found himself working on space ships and mobile suits. Times when the air felt fresher and nothing, not even stubborn bolts and the lack of replacement parts could cut him so deep he’d feel it, but that’s when the pain was buffered. When Hiiro was there taking the edge off the agony. He felt a little foolish when he saw feet from beneath the bulkhead, then a hand appeared to pick up the abused tool, but his heart stopped the moment he realized it wasn’t Hilde’s. Was he seeing things? He knew that hand and slowly his eyes confirmed what his mind refused to believe. 

‘Hiiro?’ 

‘You’re customer left,’ he told him handing him his wrench back. 

‘…………’

‘………….’

‘I...what’re you…How did…I mean where….?’ Duo tried on each of the questions that rose in his mind while he extracted himself from the bowels of the ship, then fell silent when he was finally standing face to face with the perfect soldier. Damn…he looked good. Healthy, strong…um…‘What’s up?’

‘Can I stay here?’

‘……………W…wh…uh...yeah...sure.’ What the hell?

*

‘Uh...you can take my bed if you want,’ Duo offered still reeling from shock that his old partner had just materialized, but when he thought about it, that was just like Hiiro. ‘How long are you going to stay?’ he asked after the fact. 

‘Awhile,” Hiiro replied. ‘Why don’t we share it?’ 

‘Share?’ Duo echoed feeling his throat going dry. They had shared a bed or a cot or a patch of earth many times during the war, but things were different then. Still, he saw no good reason to refuse. 

‘Alright,’ he said leading him into the small, cozy, little room he called his own, but he blanched and started picking up the discarded boxers and old t-shirts lying around wondering when he’d become such a slob. ‘Sorry about that,’ he told him. ‘Do you have any luggage or anything?’ he asked shoving the dirty clothes in the waste basket beside the little desk. ‘I can clean out the bottom drawer for you if you...’ his words stalled when he opened the drawer and realized it was already devoid of anything but a moth’s wing and a stray push pin and he chuckled when Hiiro dropped the single bag he’d been carrying over his shoulder on the foot of the bed. Some things never changed. Soldiers live light. 

‘Hiiro?’ he gaped fighting the urge to turn around when he suddenly pulled his shirt over his head. 

‘I’d like to take a shower,’ Hiiro told him laying the shirt on the end of the bed beside his bag. 

‘Down the hall…on the left.’

‘Thanks.’ 

‘Son of a bitch,’ Duo breathed the moment he was alone. 

‘Duo?’ Hilde inquired stalling when she walked by the room, then glanced down the hall at the sound of the shower running. 

‘It’s Hiiro,’ he told her still shaken by the fact. 

‘What?’ she gasped softly glancing at the bathroom again skeptically while she joined him. 

‘He’s going to stay here for awhile,’ he informed her. 

She looked at him positively flabbergasted for a minute before her eyes widened and she gushed happily. ‘He’s come to tell his side of the story!’ 

‘The records?’ Duo mused. Of course, that had to be it. He’d heard of the task and the chronicles and had come to make his statement. He was so floored by his unexpected arrival it hadn’t occurred to him, but it made perfect sense and he was relieved when a good deal of the tension he’d been feeling drained away. ‘Yeah...I wonder why he didn’t just go to Earth with the others though.’ 

‘Maybe this was more convenient,’ Hilde smiled. ‘Who knows where he’s been keeping himself. The point is he came back! Isn’t that wonderful? Now the records will be complete! Hey! Why don’t you see if he wants to go to Earth too! You could go together, then you’d all be in one place!’ 

‘Are you going to Earth?’ 

‘Hiiro!’ Hilde smiled turning to face him while Duo turned his head. He hadn’t thought to give him a robe and the bath towel really was just indecent. ‘It’s so good to see you well,’ she smiled. 

‘Hilde!’ Duo exclaimed. 

‘What?’ she asked innocently while Duo snatched his robe off the back of the door and tossed it at their guest. 

‘Show a little shame will’ya!’ he grumbled. 

‘Oh, please,’ she chuckled waving his comment away. ‘It’s only Hiiro,’ she reasoned brushing past him. ‘I’m going to run to town and pick up something special for dinner.’ 

‘You don’t have to trouble yourself over me,’ Hiiro told her laying the unused robe on the foot of the bed. 

‘Are you kidding?’ she laughed. ‘This calls for sekihan! Hope you don’t mind take out because I can’t cook! Be back in a bit!’ she said happily dashing out the front door. 

‘Sorry,’ Duo smiled sheepishly. ‘She gets a little excited over these things.’ 

‘Are you going to Earth?’ Hiiro asked again, but all Duo heard was the soft rustle of cloth when the towel hit the floor and suddenly his mind was filled with a thousand forbidden vision of things he’d thought long buried under the bloody crust of the war. ‘Duo?’

‘No,’ he replied only vaguely aware of what he was saying. ‘We can do the interviews on the remote,’ he told him while he turned and left the room. 

He spent the rest of the afternoon working in the deepest recesses of the yard trying desperately to forget the things he’d remembered. The most disturbing of which was the sparkle in Relena’s eyes whenever Hiiro was around. He could still feel the pain of the day Hiiro rushed off to her rescue in the first hours of the second Eve war. He realized that day, in that moment that his deepest desires and dreams would forever go unfulfilled. There was nothing he could do though, since they had been impossible from the start, but at least before that he had the blessing of false hope to comfort him…but now…

‘Duo?’ 

CLANG! 

‘OW! Shit!’ 

‘What’re you doing in there?’ Hilde asked peering into the depths of the ruined afterburner Duo was trying to extract some platinum circuits from. They were useless for the most part, but the platinum would come in handy...some day. 

‘Busting my last two knuckles, that’s what,’ he grumbled sucking at the injured knot on his hand. ‘What do you want?’ he asked hearing his voice echo in the vastness of the empty fuel shell. 

‘We’re having special dinner tonight remember! Or did you forget we have a guest?’ she admonished disapprovingly. 

‘Damn it,’ he sighed looking at his watch. How’d it get so late so fast? ‘Alright! I’ll be right in,’ he told her. 

CRRREEEEAKKKK! CLANG! THUNK!

‘What was that?’

‘Nothing...I’m coming,’ Duo replied shoving the board he’d just ripped from the console in his pocket. He would’ve spent another hour extracting it the proper way, but he really didn’t want to have to climb back down in that hole, so he just pulled it out by force before wriggling back up the little access tunnel to spill into the yard. He tensed when he felt strong hands take him around the waist and help him effortlessly to the ground and his mind spun dumbly when his eyes confirmed that it had been Hiiro who aided him. ‘Where’s Hilde?’ he asked numbly. 

‘She went back to the house,’ Hiiro replied. Duo felt his entire body tense when Hiiro’s hand slowly rose toward his face and his brow crinkled curiously as his mind slammed the door on a hundred unbidden images of things he didn’t dare hope for until a sudden relief filled him when Hiiro plucked something from his thick bangs. Duo smiled unable to conceal his embarrassment while Hiiro showed him the little bit of spider web or fiberglass that had gotten stuck in his hair before dropping it on the ground. 

‘We’d better get back,’ he said. ‘She’s probably decorated the whole house by now.’ 

‘Did you get the relay’s?’ Hiiro asked. 

‘Uh, yeah,’ Duo replied pulling the little circuit board from his pocket to show him. 

‘Interesting extraction method,’ Hiiro grinned shaking the dangling wires around a little and Duo’s heart skipped a beat. 

What the hell? What was going on? Why couldn’t he even talk to him without loosing control of his emotions anymore?! Hiiro had always stirred something deep, down inside him to the point of obsession at times during the war and he’d come to the realization long ago that his feelings towards him went deeper than mere friendship, but it’d never been so prominent before. Maybe it was all the talk about the war or Hiiro’s long absence and sudden reappearance or maybe it was the fact that he chose to appear before Duo that set him off. Whatever it was it was becoming a problem. He had to get it back under control before he ended up doing something that would bring a permanent end to their fragile friendship. 

**

‘It was good.’

‘Yeah...Taidon’s makes good sekihan,’ Hilde smiled helping herself to some more before piling the left over on top of Duo’s all but untouched portion. ‘Eat up,’ she encouraged. ‘What’s with you tonight? Usually I have to hide it in the bottom of the fridge so I don’t starve,’ she chuckled explaining her concern to Hiiro. 

‘I don’t know,’ Duo shrugged. ‘I’m just not that...’

*beeb*beeb*beeb*

‘Omigosh, that’s them!’ Hilde gushed racing for the vid phone. ‘Hello! Quatre!’

‘Good evening Miss Schbeiker,’ Lady Une greeted evenly. 

‘Oh,’ Hilde gasped softly standing away from the image on the screen while Duo regarded her curiously. 

He hadn’t really spoken to the Lady since the destruction of the Gundam’s. He knew Wufei and Sally had regular contact with her since she was their boss, but none of the rest of them kept in touch. He had to wonder who she might have become now that things had settled down. She was never all that stable, but now that she had a child maybe things were different. 

‘Where is Mr. Maxwell?’ the Lady asked sternly. ‘We have little resources to waist on long, interplanetary communications.’ 

‘Yes...I’m sorry,’ Hilde replied nervously. ‘I’ll put him on at once, but you’ll never believe…!’ her words stalled when the screen suddenly went dark. ‘Wha...Hiiro?’ 

‘Would you excuse us for a minute?’ he asked still holding the connection cable in his hand. 

‘Why did you..?’

‘Please,’ Hiiro insisted and her gaze wandered to Duo who sat looking quietly confounded, but nodded his agreement before she smiled her understanding and relaxed. 

‘Alright,’ she breathed easily picking up her coat. ‘I suppose it’s all very Gundam pilot specific,’ she chuckled. ‘Have fun!’ she smiled before closing the door. 

‘What was that all about?’ Duo asked. 

‘I would appreciate it,’ Hiiro explained hooking the vid phone back up, ‘If my presence was not revealed just yet,’ he told him. Duo started to retort to what he considered an unreasonable request, however…

‘…get them back! I don’t care! What happened to the …’

He had to grin at the Ladies frantic tone. So, maybe his accounts were worth the price of a phone call after all.

‘Don’t split a wig,’ he smiled plopping down in the chair and kicking it back on two legs. ‘The problem was on our end,’ he told her flashing Hiiro, who was standing behind the camera so he couldn’t be seen, a lofty grin. Whatever his reasons were for keeping himself hidden Duo had no doubt they were good ones, so he decided to play along. 

‘Maxwell,’ the Lady sighed impatiently. 

‘Une,’ he echoed playfully, but is grin slipped a notch when he caught the shadow of a smile hiding in the corner of Hiiro’s mouth. Did he think that was funny? Hiiro had developed...god help us all...a sense of humor?!

‘Shall we begin?’ Une prompted ignoring the bad joke completely while she was joined by another, more amiable face. ‘This is Yoshiyuki Tomino,’ she supplied a name for the ageing man beside her. ‘He has already gathered a great deal of information, however...’

‘My Lady,’ the man broke in so softly and kindly the stern woman was instantly set off balance. ‘If I may,’ he smiled. 

‘Of course,’ she replied stepping away and Duo had to hand it to the guy because there weren’t too many people who could deal with Une. 

‘Mr. Maxwell,’ he smiled comfortably giving Duo the feeling that he could trust him. ‘I trust you’re well?’ he began taking his seat. 

‘Nothing a little aspricream wouldn’t solve,’ Duo replied. ‘Did they drive you nuts trying to piece all this shit together yet?’ 

‘There are some rather large differences in perception,’ Tomino chuckled. ‘Do you mind if I record our conversation?’ 

‘That’s kind of the point isn’t it?’ Duo smiled letting his appreciation for his show of respect shine through. He laughed and Duo decided he kind of liked him. ‘So…where do we start?’ he asked settling in. 

‘Well,’ he began. ‘The battles and progression of the war in general have been very well documented. However, I’m more interested in the relationships between the Gundam pilots and how they affected the outcome.’ 

‘For instance?’ Duo asked still unclear as to what he was supposed to say. 

‘For instance,’ he smiled leaning back with his clip board in hand, ‘I understand that you almost killed Hiiro Yui upon your first meeting?’

‘Hn!’ Duo snorted recalling that fateful day. ‘If I had wanted him dead he’d be fish bait,’ he told him. ‘I just figured Relena probably didn’t want to die just yet.’

‘According to her you shot him at first sight.’

‘Because he was about to pop a cap in her skull,’ Duo chuckled. ‘You know,’ he mused glancing at Hiiro who was standing silently behind the desk. ‘She’s still never thanked me for that one.’

‘I could’ve stopped him without any blood shed if you hadn’t interfered,’ Relena's cold tone interjected and Duo’s eyes instantly fell on Hiiro in an attempt to ascertain his reaction to this, but he showed no change. 

‘Heeeey, Queen Bee! How’s the hive coming along?’ he asked showing his brightest smile. 

‘If you hadn’t shot him things would have turned out differently,’ she said coming into view. 

‘Yeah,’ Duo grinned watching while Hiiro’s hand came up with his finger pointing at the back of the monitor like the barrel of a gun while he made a motion as if he’d just shot it. ‘Your brains would’ve gotten some air,’ he chuckled flashing a heartfelt smile. 

‘He wouldn’t have shot me,’ she insisted and Duo almost choked when Hiiro sent several more imaginary bullets at the back of the screen. Man! What was with him? He was smiling and everything!

‘Miss Darlian,’ Tomino smiled. ‘Would you excuse us? I already have your account of this situation, thank you,’ he said when she moved obediently away. Nice trick. He’d have to figure out how he managed that some day. 

‘The rest of the crew there too?’ Duo asked. 

‘We’re here,’ Quatre’s sunny tone broke in while he stepped into view. ‘Sorry, I guess you didn’t read the synopsis for these meetings,’ he smiled. ‘We’ll all be present at first so if you need us just ask,’ he offered. 

‘There was homework?’ Duo smiled. 

‘An outline of the ...’ Quatre began, but Trowa’s hand suddenly appeared to draw him away, no doubt to explain that the comment was a joke. 

‘Why didn’t you kill him?’ Tomino asked. 

Duo paused and glanced unwillingly at Hiiro again. ‘He wasn’t my enemy,’ he told him evenly. It wasn’t a lie, but then most truths have some underlying falsehood. He certainly couldn’t sit there and say he’d pulled the shot because Hiiro had the most gorgeous eyes in all creation. ‘Anyone attacking the Alliance wasn’t someone I wanted to kill right off.’ 

‘But you shot him a second time?’ 

‘Yeah, well,’ Duo chuckled recalling how his heart had stopped beating in the moment that it took for Hiiro to dive for his gun. ‘I value my life,’ he told him. ‘Actually, I was aiming for his gun on the deck and he just happened to get in the way,’ he explained. ‘I never had any intention of actually killing him. Saving Relena wasn’t very high on my list anymore either by the time she jumped in and patched him up. No offense, Your Highness,’ he said addressing the unseen monarch. ‘But aiding a guy that had tried to kill you in a situation like that really wasn’t the brightest thing I’d ever seen.’

‘He was hurt!’ she snapped. 

‘He also could’ve snapped your neck,’ he pointed out. 

‘But he didn’t,’ she replied. 

‘No,’ Duo agreed unable to look at Hiiro. ‘He didn’t.’ There was a long pause in which Tomino sat quietly scribbling on his pad before prompting the conversation again. 

‘Is this when you learned he was a fellow pilot?’ he asked at length. 

‘Yeah,’ Duo replied pulling his mind back to the present. ‘I was raising his Gundam with mine. That’s why I was on the dock to begin with, but they came up a little faster than I anticipated. Crazy loon took one look and saddled the torpedoes he’d stolen to blow his suit like some kind of space cowboy,’ he grinned at the scowl his words had caused on Hiiro’s face. ‘Damn good thing he lost his grip or he would’ve been blown to smithereens.’ 

‘He was taken prisoner?’ 

‘Relena turned him in.’

‘What?!’ she gasped suddenly appearing again. ‘He was wounded! I didn’t turn him in! He was hurt and needed a doctor! I saved him!’

‘He was a soldier,’ Duo countered confidently.

‘That doesn’t mean he had to die,’ she retorted. 

‘Death or imprisonment,’ he stated. ‘What’s the difference?’ 

‘Miss Relena...if you please,’ Tomino interjected gently guiding her away again. 

‘So you rescued him?’ he asked patiently. 

‘Not really,’ Duo replied gaining a look of skepticism from the chronicler. ‘Oh, I stirred things up a bit, gave him a means of escape, but he busted himself out. Kept my knife too as I recall,’ he smirked at Hiiro who raised his shoulders unconcerned. 

‘You almost got him killed,’ Relena said off to the side. 

‘Miss Darlian...’

‘Naw, she’s right on that one,’ Duo interrupted once again unable to look at his silent companion. ‘His Gundam was lost as far as he knew and he’d already been captured once. I gave him the means to solve all his problems at once by opening that wall. It was me who was being rescued at that point,’ he said softly remembering all too well the feeling of utter loss while he watched Hiiro plummet towards the ground. 

‘But he didn’t die,’ the chronicler observed. 

‘No,’ Duo confirmed. ‘He popped the chute at the last moment and managed to save himself just in the knick of time,’ he told him sounding very far away. 

‘Why?’ 

‘He woke up when he heard… Relena…call his name,’ he said softly staring at a small spot of grease on the living room rug. 

‘…………….’

‘……………’

‘I think we’ll leave it here for today,’ Tomino smiled setting his pad down. 

Quatre jumped in his seat almost before he’d finished thanking Duo and setting up the next session, then filled him in on all the happenings since they arrived on Earth. There had been a ball in their honor where they were presented with metals and plaques to show the Earth’s Sphere’s gratitude for their service. Quatre promised to bring his to him before he and Trowa returned to L4 at the end of the month and Wufei made another effort to change his mind and convince him to come to Earth, but Duo flashed a questioning look at Hiiro that was received in the negative, so he refused. As much as he’d like to see the moon from the Earth’s surface again he wouldn’t have left Hiiro’s side for anything, at least not until he figured out what was up. 

‘He hasn’t changed much,’ Hiiro observed after the call was ended. 

‘Quatre?’ 

‘Yes.’

‘He and Trowa are a couple now you know?’ Duo told him. 

‘I know.’ 

Duo nodded absently not really knowing what else to say. ‘Welp,’ he burst all of a sudden. ‘Guess I’ll go wash the grit off. You can leave the dishes and I’ll get them after I clean up,’ he said while he went to fetch some fresh clothes and a towel. 

‘Duo.’

‘Hn?’ he replied pausing at the bathroom door. 

‘I thought it was you.’

‘Thought what was me?’ 

‘Who called my name that day.’ 

Duo stalled when the pieces of his world suddenly detached from each other and whirled about in his head. It took him a minute to settle them back into place, but when he did the picture didn’t look quiet the same and there seemed to be a couple of holes here and there. He was much too dizzy to deal with them though, so he just grabbed a passing smile and offered it to his companion before stepping into the sanctuary of the bathroom. 

What was up with telling him something like that? Better yet, if he didn’t want the others to know he was there why in the hell did he bother to show up?! All he could figure was that if Hiiro wanted to hear everyone else’s side of the story first, then that was his prerogative. He had saved the world several times over, so he figured he was due an idiosyncrasy now and then. He’d convinced himself things would work out on their own by the time he got out of the shower. It didn’t surprise him that dinner had been cleaned up or that Hiiro was already in his...their…room. However, it was a little alarming that he was sitting on the bed in nothing but a pair of white pajama bottoms reading what looked like Duo’s journal. 

‘Hey!’ Duo snapped snatching the book away. ‘That’s personal!’ he grumbled looking over the page Hiiro had been reading. Oh, god. How far did he get?

‘You’ve been keeping that a long time,’ Hiiro observed. 

‘That’s none of your business is it?’ Duo groused. 

‘What does it mean?’ Hiiro asked softly and Duo was suddenly fighting demons he’d forgotten lived inside him while he gazed upon him sitting in the glowing light from the street lamps outside. 

‘What?’ he asked sharply flicking on the harsher lights in the room. 

‘For the windswept waves or the sighing sea await the rising sun, is it tragic that I, instead, await my salvation in the deep blue ferocity of the predawn sky?’ Hiiro recited. 

‘It's poetry,’ Duo ground out dangerously. ‘And it was private!’ Until you memorized it, asshole! he added mentally.

‘Yes,’ Hiiro replied softly turning his eyes to meet with Duo’s. ‘But...what does it mean?’ 

Duo took one look into those steady blue eyes and remembered clearly the day he’d written that poem. The day he’d sat on the deck of Howard’s ship waiting for his men to put Deathscythe back together again after Hiiro had raped him for spare parts. The confusion he’d felt in that moment rose to the surface once again, each word he’d printed on the paper coming back to him when he once again felt the overwhelming need to sink into those dawn blue eyes and stay there forever. 

‘It’s just a dream I once had,’ he told him turning away. ‘You shouldn’t read peoples private thoughts,’ he reprimanded thankful that that’s all he’d uncovered. There were things written in that book he never wanted anyone else to know. He’d even thought of destroying it a few times, but had never been able to bring himself to do it. 

‘You shouldn’t keep secrets from those who care about you,’ Hiiro countered and Duo’s face squinted up slowly while his mind filled with the solid exclamation of `what the hell?` It was quickly replaced by a shaky little `o shit` when he saw Hiiro drawing the sheets of his little, double bed back for him while he softly said, ‘Get the lights.’ 

‘Uh…right,’ he replied, but it took him three swats at the switch before he finally hit it. 

‘Is something wrong?’ Hiiro asked from his comfortable little niche beside Duo’s pillow. He’d slipped into the bed with the sheet draped across his tight stomach with one leg under and the other exposed and bent at the knee. 

'It’s only a dream,' Duo told himself reaching deep, down into the depths of his memory until he found one that resembled his current situation. Yes, he’d had dreams like this before. Dreams he’d instantly pushed back into the folds of his past and tried desperately to forget, yet there they were just waiting for him to access them. Convincing himself that his long time partner wasn’t really laying there in his bed looking like Adonis and beckoning him forth made it a little easier to slide into the bed, but he’d been totally unprepared for the warmth of his body. 

‘Hiiro?’ 

‘Hn?’

‘Could you...scoot over a bit?’ 

‘…..’ 

‘It’s kind of hot.’ 

Hiiro said nothing while he slowly rolled over until there was a good distance between them and Duo breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t manage to fall asleep for several hours though, which left him feeling less than spry the next day when his grumpy customer returned to inquire about his evaporator. 

‘You left without leaving a deposit,’ Duo told the grousing man. 

‘You took too damn long,’ he growled impatiently. ‘I don’t have all day to wait around for skinny kids that don’t know their ass from a …’

THUD!

‘Hey! That’s the one!’ he grinned at the rusty old evaporator Hiiro had dropped on the counter. Duo looked at him taking in his pristine appearance and cocked his head. 

‘I pulled it yesterday while you were busy,’ Hiiro explained. 

‘Well, now!’ the big man exclaimed inspecting the part. ‘`bout time you got some real help around here,’ he said leaning over closer to Hiiro to add covertly, ‘Never could see what a pretty boy like him was doing working a junk yard anyway,’ he said winking suggestively. 

‘Me either,’ Hiiro replied and Duo’s jaw just about fell on the floor. 

‘...ow much, boy! I ain’t got all dang day here!’

‘W...what?’ Duo stammered when reality came crashing back down again. ‘Oh...umm, fifty credits,’ he told him looking around to see where Hiiro had gone since he was no longer standing beside him. He’d been so floored by that comment he hadn’t noticed him leave.

‘Here,’ the man told him handing him the money. ‘There’s an extra five in there for your friend,’ he smiled as he left, but Duo never really noticed him go either. His mind whirled with confusion while he numbly dropped the credits in the drawer. Had Hiiro Yui just insinuated he was...pretty? 

By afternoon he was having a lot of trouble with resurfacing emotions he’d spent the past year squashing into the smallest recesses of his heart. Desires he’d hoped would never cloud his path again sprang up at every turn while he watched his ex-partner working in the yard beside him. Hiiro had, of course, insisted on helping out to pay for his room and board and Duo couldn’t refuse. He’d never been able to refuse him anything and nothing had changed. The only difference was that now his secret affections for him were coming on so strong he couldn’t stop himself from daydreaming about him. The result of this had been a pitifully lame excuse for a day’s work that Hiiro’s efforts had outweighed embarrassingly. By the time dinner was over and the vid phone rang he was feeling pretty low all in all. Hiiro had taken his position behind the desk again and Tomino informed him that it was just them tonight. He wanted a more personal account of his first days on Earth. 

‘I kicked ass,’ he told the chuckling man on the screen. ‘Yeah, it was great,’ he went on smiling while he recalled. ‘I finally got to do something about all the bullshit you know? I’ll never forget their faces when me and Deathscythe opened their can,’ he chuckled. 

‘Your first assignment was...’ 

‘So sweet,’ Duo cut him off and he fell silent and began to scratch on his clip board. ‘They ran like little, church mice,’ he told him while his violet eyes shimmered with the fire he’d felt on that day. ‘I finally had the means to take back what was ours. To make things change. You know,’ he said suddenly. ‘Back then I really believed Deathscythe was the answer.’ 

‘And now?’ 

‘It ain’t the machine. They can build a zillion of those,’ he told him while his eyes strayed once again to gaze into Hiiro’s. ‘It’s the heart of the man that commands it,’ he said with utter conviction as his heart fluttered gently when Hiiro slowly smiled. ‘Like that story in the bible of the dude that wiped out a ten thousand man army with five hundred guys. All he needed was a couple of extra torches and a heart full of determination and bam! Clever guy,’ he added distractedly. 

‘Do you believe that’s why you won?’

‘Won?’ Duo laughed. ‘You think we won?’ 

‘You don’t?’ he asked curiously. 

‘We’re alive so I guess we didn’t loose,’ he sighed. ‘I don’t know,’ he said softly glancing at Hiiro again. ‘Is anything really better? I thought we were fighting for the freedom to make a better world for ourselves, but…’

‘The fate of the people still rests in someone else’s hands,’ Tomino finished for him. 

‘Yeah,’ Duo smiled looking a little shocked that he understood. 

‘Did you know,’ Tomino said turning off his little recorder for the moment. ‘There is a new organization springing to life among the colonist,’ he told him piquing his interest. ‘It targets the opinions of the citizens as individuals gathering information on the affairs of state, then compiles them and offers them to the political leaders with the power to enact their will,’ he explained. 

‘Really?’ Duo smiled recalling how the people had come out into the street that Christmas Eve to reclaim the peace that had been stolen from them. 

‘Yes,’ Tomino told him smiling softly. ‘I couldn’t say if there is any truth to the claim or not, but there is a rumor that the organization was founded by a young man calling himself Hiiro Yui.’ Duo’s eyes immediately sprang to Hiiro’s face, but he showed no evidence that this might be true. ‘Miss Relena’s investigation into the possibility of this person being the same Hiiro Yui that was once the pilot of Wing Zero was inconclusive,’ he told him. 

‘Could be a copy cat,’ Duo offered thinking that it probably wasn’t. It was just the type of thing Hiiro would do. Disappear, inspire a new working government in the wake of the war, then pop back up and watch his seed grow. 

‘Did Hiiro’s presence influence your change of opinion?’ Tomino asked turning the recorder back on. 

‘Of course,’ Duo replied. ‘Everyone did in their own way.’

‘Forgive me,’ Tomino smiled gently laying his pencil down. ‘But your relationship with Mr. Yui appears to have been closer than the others,’ he observed while Duo did his best not to change color in front of his house guest. ‘I’d like to hear how this affected your participation in the war.’ 

‘Umm, well,’ Duo sighed swallowing the dry lump that was trying to form in his throat and steadfastly not looking in Hiiro’s direction while he spoke. ‘Yeah, I guess he was a pretty powerful influence for us all,’ he began. 

‘What about you?’ Tomino asked picking up his pencil again. ‘Individually,’ he clarified expectantly and Duo once again lost the battle of the blush. 

‘I couldn’t make heads or tails out of the guy at first,’ he began. ‘But yeah...that damn, hard headed conviction of his made me think,’ he admitted glancing at the way Hiiro was quietly watching him. ‘I started fighting because it’s all I’ve ever known. Since I was a kid it’s been one fight after another. First just to survive...’

‘You were an orphan,’ Tomino interjected letting him know he had a general history on him. 

‘Yeah,’ Duo nodded. ‘Then, when I hooked up with Deathscythe, it seemed like I finally had the power to change things, but…’ his words stalled again while his eyes moved as far away from Hiiro’s silent gaze as possible. ‘After meeting him,’ he went on quietly. ‘I realized...there was a lot more at stake than just a few street rats.’ 

‘Meeting him changed what you were fighting for?’

‘No,’ he replied. ‘It just widened the scope,’ he explained. ‘Hiiro, he…’ he couldn’t help looking up into his dark blue eyes, ‘He sees the big picture,’ he said letting the expression of utter adoration wash across his face. It was no secret that he, like so many others, respected this young man with all his heart. ‘I wanted revenge at first, and a means to rectify the injustice of mankind. Quatre wanted to build a better world. Trowa was making sure the good didn’t have to die young and Wufei had a score to settle, but Hiiro…’ he paused to gather his seething emotions before they spilled out his eyes. ‘He didn’t have any kind of selfish needs like we did,’ he told him. ‘He see’s things clearly and isn’t afraid to make things happen. I’ve never met anyone like him.’ 

‘The perfect soldier,’ Tomino stated. 

‘Perfect pain in my ass!’ Duo retorted laughing at how the comment had Hiiro doubled up with the silent giggles. ‘The son of a bitch freaked me out every which way I turned,’ he chuckled. ‘Have you ever seen a guy set his own leg?’ Tomino grimaced and scribbled some more while Duo laughed at the cross expression on Hiiro’s face. ‘It ain’t a pretty picture let me tell you,’ he went on. ‘Not to mention he had no respect for other peoples pride at all. Anything to finish the mission,’ he rolled his eyes. ‘Including raping my Gundam!’ he added, then giggled at the appalled expression on Tomino’s face. ‘He stole the parts he needed to fix Wing,’ he clarified. ‘No thank you’s or well wishes or compromises for that guy, nope,’ he went on kicking back in his chair again. ‘Just take what you need, stay alert and make sure the mission doesn’t fail. Asshole never even thought twice when he pushed that damn button,’ he said and all fell deathly quiet. When he dared to look he saw that Hiiro hadn’t moved save for the fact that he’d shut his eyes. 

‘The self destruction,’ Tomino prompted, but fell silent when a rouge tear slipped from the corner of Duo’s violet eye. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from Hiiro’s silent face while his mind was ripped back to a moment in time when he’d stood there plain as day and pushed that button without a moment’s hesitation. When he stopped to think about it...he could still hear the sound of his heart screaming. ‘…uo?…Duo?’

‘What?’ he snapped. 

‘We’ll end it here for today,’ Tomino replied kindly. 

‘No,’ Duo retorted wiping the tear away. ‘You want to know how that affected my role in the war right?’ he asked without waiting for an answer. ‘The same way it did everyone else,’ he told him letting his chair fall down on all four legs. ‘It woke me up. I finally realized what he’d known all along. It wasn’t about me or Hiiro or any of the others. It was about humanity as a whole and in the end no matter what we did it wasn’t us that mattered, but you want to know something?’ he asked standing in a huff. ‘That’s bullshit!’ he spat looking to see that Hiiro still stood there with his eyes closed tight. ‘He did matter! He mattered to us!’ he growled as the anger and fear and sorrow overwhelmed him. ‘He mattered to me!’ he snapped loosing his temper and kicking the chair before he stormed off. 

‘Stupid!’ he snarled kicking a stray part in the yard and sending it sailing off across the piles of debris. How could he have said those things? And into a recorder no less! Geez! He sounded like a compete idiot! Made a mockery of one of Hiiro’s greatest sacrifices for no more reason than the pain in his own heart. Gods! He was such a selfish brat!

‘Duo?’

‘Not now, Hilde,’ he sighed reining it back in as he sat down. 

‘Are you alright?’ she asked coming to him anyway. 

‘No,’ he replied. ‘Not really.’ 

‘Duo?’ she asked again laying her hand on his shoulder supportively. 

‘Damn it,’ he sighed reaching out to pull her into a tight hug. She had no idea what to do since Duo had never leaned on her for that type of support before, so she just hugged him back. ‘I don’t know if I can do this,’ he confessed after a time. 

‘If it’s too painful just tell them,’ she suggested. ‘You don’t have to you know?’

‘He wants me to,’ he said softly. ‘I can see it in his eyes. He wants me to tell them…Damn it,’ he swore when she backed away a little looking concerned. ‘I can still see him lying there,’ he confessed fighting back the tears. ‘I couldn’t believe he was dead,’ he told her and what he was talking about seemed to dawn in her eyes. ‘I’m such a selfish idiot,’ he sighed finally relaxing a little. 

‘Duo,’ she breathed wrapping him up in a comforting hug and he let her for a moment before pushing her away and smiling in thanks. The smile disappeared when they turned and saw Hiiro standing in the doorway, his thin form as stoic as ever in the backlight and his eyes set hard in the unpleasant scowl on his face. 

‘I guess I pissed him off,’ Duo sighed watching him turn to walk away. 

‘Come on,’ Hilde smiled pulling him to his feet. ‘You’ll feel better in the morning,’ she smiled. 

‘I think I’ll sleep on the couch,’ he mumbled offering her a cute, little sulk to calm her nerves. It worked. She was her bright, cheerful self when she helped him make up the couch, then made him a cup of chamomile tea before going to bed. Duo was almost asleep when he suddenly realized he wasn’t alone. His hand was under his pillow in a flash, but the gun he’d been searching for had long sense been packed away. 

‘You didn’t come to bed.’

‘Hiiro?...Shit! You live to freak me out don’tcha?’ he groused wiping the sleep out of his eyes. ‘What time is it?’ he asked eyeing the clock that told him it was past 2 a.m.

‘I won’t put you out of your bed,’ Hiiro told him evenly. 

‘Chill out...it’s just for tonight,’ Duo countered. ‘I just figured you’d like some space after my brain dead show earlier,’ he told him. 

‘Come to bed.’ 

‘I’m fine here for tonight.’ 

‘Then I’ll leave.’

‘Wait! Damn it, Hiiro!’ Duo ground out climbing out of his blankets and sheets to follow him into the bedroom. ‘You don’t have to leave,’ he told him firmly. 

‘Then come to bed,’ Hiiro replied stubbornly. 

‘Why do you...! Alright!’ Duo grumbled when Hiiro pulled his duffel out from under the bed. ‘Fine...have it your way,’ he told him going around and climbing in without thought in his irritation. 

By the time he realized that he was squarely centered, which meant that Hiiro’s back was pressed against his when he returned to the bed it was too late to do anything about it without totally embarrassing himself, so he was forced to endure. How anyone could be so damn hot blooded was a mystery, but Hiiro’s back was like leaning against a furnace. It took a long time for him to settle down enough to even think about sleeping again. 

‘Duo?’ Hiiro’s soft tone broke through the silent haze. 

‘Hn?’ he replied uncertain if he really wanted him to know that he was awake. 

‘I did it…so you wouldn’t have to.’ 

Duo didn’t have to ask what he meant and for a moment his mind and heart raced at the idea that he’d meant him in particular, but that would be just like Hiiro, to have taken the fall for them all. To make sure that no one else got hurt in such a terrible confrontation. Bearing the responsibility of every living being in the colonies would come as natural to him as breathing. It made perfect sense. 

‘I’m sorry I said those things,’ Duo offered. 

‘It hurt you?’ Hiiro asked. 

‘Well, yeah,’ he scoffed. ‘It shook us all up pretty bad,’ he told him and his heart slammed into high gear when Hiiro suddenly rolled and turned until he was all but spooning his back.

‘I’m sorry,’ he told him softly and the warmth of his breath on the back of Duo’s neck when he spoke stalled his reply. 

He just couldn’t find any words while his world spun out of control and everything came to a screeching halt the moment he felt Hiiro’s arms folding around him. He wanted to scream or run or just jump up and crash right through the wall, but all he managed was a soft whimper while he felt his entire universe being engulfed in Hiiro’s presence and suddenly, he just didn’t care anymore. He never wanted to move from this spot again as long as he lived. It was so much more than he’d ever dreamed it could be and he’d had tons of dreams in which Hiiro would hold him. Of course, in those dreams he also did some other more sweaty activities with him, but this was more than he’d ever hoped for. He could feel it, the lock he’d put on his heart so long ago. He could feel it shudder under the strain as the desperate vibrations resonated throughout him until his hands began to shake and he realized he was trembling. 

‘Hiiro it’s…hot,’ he told him truthfully. He felt like he might just burst into flame if this continued and he sighed gently both out of relief and a good amount of satisfaction when Hiiro released him and moved away. 

The next few days were a little easier for them all. Tomino stayed away from subjects that might upset Duo and concentrated on his relationships with the other Gundam pilots. It turned out that Quatre and Trowa had been very open about the nature of their feelings for each other going so far as to tell him when it all began and Duo was a little shocked to hear that they’d been in a physical relationship since the first time they met. Apparently, Trowa had put the moves on the slight blond, then beat a trail before he could cool off. Quatre wasn’t that easy to shake though, so they ended up in several other bodily confrontations before Trowa was presumed dead and Quatre regained his sanity at the loss of his estranged lover. It was truly an epic love story if he’d ever heard one, but other than this one mans account it was lost to the world. Duo was kind of happy that it wouldn’t be lost completely because in some small way, their love really would last forever. Hiiro had known all along of course, which made Duo wonder if Trowa hadn’t also put the moves on him while he was under his care, but he didn’t think he should ask. 

The conversation about Wufei was a bit confusing since Duo still wasn’t sure exactly what his relationship with him was. He was a hell of a fighter and a great guy to have at your back, but there were some deep seeded emotional problems he couldn’t even begin to figure out. Still, he had a lot of respect for him. It isn’t everyone who has enough conviction to follow their heart even if it turns them into a demon. Tomino was particularly interested in Duo’s take on the fact that Hiiro played an enormous roll in bringing him peace and understanding, but it stalled him for a moment when Duo simply told him it was nothing more than he would expect from an encounter with Hiiro. They all learned from him in their own way, in their own time. Hiiro sat silently through this part of the story and was very quite for the remainder of the night. It wasn’t until the next morning while they were working on dismantling an old hybrid engine that he spoke on the subject. 

‘What did you learn from me?’ he asked casually loosening another bolt where he lay on his back under the chasse with his partner. 

‘What do you mean?’ Duo asked. 

‘You said all the pilots learned something from me,’ Hiiro reminded him. ‘What did you learn?’ 

‘Don’t get caught,’ Duo quipped and he thought it was funny until he realized Hiiro had quit moving. ‘I don’t know,’ he told him more seriously. ‘That revenge is a shitty reason to start a war I guess,’ he said scrounging around for his lost nine sixteenths. 

‘Is that really why you fought?’ Hiiro asked recovering from his momentary lapse. 

‘It was at first,’ Duo admitted. ‘I wanted to kill as many of those Alliance scumbags as I could for burning the church,’ he told him seemingly unaffected by the subject matter. 

‘And I did something that made you change your outlook?’ 

‘Well...hand me the ten millimeter socket...thanks...you had that whole `do it for the greater good` thing going on, so…’ 

‘Duo,’ Hiiro said in a way that made him stop and look at him. ‘I just wanted to win.’ 

Duo just looked at him for a long moment, then busted out laughing. ‘Ah! Ah, geez!’ he giggled trying not to get dirt and grease in his mouth. ‘When did you grow a funny bone?’ he chortled. 

‘I guess I learned it from you,’ Hiiro told him sobering him up quite a bit. When Duo looked again he was diligently working as if he’d said nothing of any consequence, so he decided to just let it go. 

‘Yeah, well...keep working on it,’ he told him instead. ‘It’s a little small and dry yet,’ he teased earning himself a bat in the head with Hiiro’s ratchet. 

*

‘...touch me!’

‘But what about your husband?’

‘I don’t care anymore! I need you...only you…yes!’

‘We don’t have to watch this if you don’t want to,’ Duo said for the third time that hour. When Hilde said she’d brought home videos for the three of them to watch together he really hadn’t considered one of them would be a fiery romance. 

‘It's fine,’ Hiiro repeated. ‘I find it intriguing actually,’ he said chuckling at the way Duo rolled his eyes. ‘It’ll be interesting to see how her husband will respond,’ he smiled. 

‘You think he’ll find out?!’ Hilde gasped chewing on the corner of her napkin. 

‘Yeah,’ Duo groaned sinking further down into his chair. ‘Right about…’ his finger fell just as the husband burst into the room on screen. 

‘Margaret! How could you!?…’

‘Like this,’ Duo replied suddenly spreading his legs wide and groaning pathetically while he squirmed on the couch and he completely missed the way Hiiro had gone perfectly still in his annoyance as he sat back up. ‘Come on! Didn’t you get a thriller or something?’ he asked picking up the video bag. 

‘Oh, all right,’ she sighed jerking the bag out of his hands. ‘Let’s watch this one,’ she said going to exchange the disks in the player. 

‘What is it?’ Duo asked. 

‘I don’t know,’ she smiled returning to her seat. ‘Hiiro recommended it.’ 

Duo smiled and picked up his bowl of popcorn before settling into his seat. This should be a major improvement! Well, it started out promising anyway, but about halfway through it became apparent that the relationship between the young captain and his superior was blossoming into something absolutely…indecent.

‘Souji..’

‘What about...the others...if they should discover us...nnn.’

‘I know…but…Souji.’

‘Ahhh! Ha ha unnnnn…Hi...ri...ka…nnnn!’ 

Duo swallowed hard while the pair of young men on the screen embraced each other. Unlike the previous film this one had a sultry air that seemed to suck him right into the scene. The music was Asian as were the actors and he didn’t have to read the sub titles thanks to Hiiro’s help in teaching him Japanese during the war, which left him free to observe the dimly lit contours of the young men while they slowly caressed each other. It was done very tastefully, so tastefully that Duo was soon daydreaming that the two guys on the screen were he and Hiiro. By the time the couple had reached a point of release, which due to it being a movie took all of about three minutes, he was so entranced in the vision of Hiiro moving slowly atop his heated body he actually heard himself gasp out loud just as the music climaxed and the pair reached the summit. 

‘Shit,’ he breathed dropping his bowl of popcorn in his haste to remove himself from the room. 

‘Duo?’ Hilde called after him, but he didn’t bother to stop and address her. His hands where shaking, his heart was pounding and his groin ached to the point it actually hurt he was so aroused when he leaned over the kitchen sink and splashed water on his face. 

‘Damn it,’ he breathed softly trying desperately to calm himself. 

‘Did it offend you?’

‘What?’ he breathed turning to peer through his dripping bangs at the face that had brought him so close to total meltdown just a minute before. 

‘I didn’t think it would bother you,’ Hiiro told him evenly. ‘You seemed okay with Quatre and Trowa.’ 

‘Oh...no…no, it’s fine,’ Duo told him reaching for the towel more so he’d have a reason to cover his face than because he wanted to dry off. ‘I just...it was ummm...it was...’ he stammered slowly loosing his grasp on the words when he lowered the towel and gazed into Hiiro’s warm, blue eyes. 

‘Exciting?’ Hiiro supplied softly and for an instant Duo felt as if he’d been struck by lightening, a powerful force that had originated in the depths of Hiiro’s endless, sapphire eyes. He was still reeling from it when Hilde decided to join them. 

‘Hey, you okay?’ she asked. ‘You didn’t make yourself sick with all that junk food did you?’ she asked getting more drinks for them out of the fridge, but Duo couldn’t answer nor could he pull his gaze away from Hiiro’s. It was like there was a charge arching between them that held them in place while she milled about and chattered away. ‘Come on,’ she said finally tugging at Duo’s sleeve. ‘You’re missing the big battle stuff you guys are always going on about,’ she told him pulling him along into the living room again. 

Duo went with her, but he didn’t really see the rest of the movie as his eyes were still clouded with the sapphire energy of Hiiro’s gaze. He didn’t know how to face sleeping with him that night, but Hiiro made it easy by not coming to bed until very late. When he did finally arrive in the wee hours of the morning he seemed reluctant to actually lay down choosing to sit half erect on the edge propped back against the head board with one foot on the floor. 

‘Can’t sleep?’ Duo asked softly since he wasn’t sleeping either. 

Hiiro was quiet for a time while he sat staring out the window at the artificial night sky before he asked softly, ‘How do you feel about Hilde?’

‘What?’ Duo asked rolling over to look at him. Where did that come from? ‘Um...we’re friends I guess, why?’ he asked pushing himself up so he wasn’t prone during their conversation. 

‘Friends,’ Hiiro repeated. ‘And that’s all?’ he asked still not shifting his gaze. 

It struck Duo suddenly that he might just be the biggest fool that ever lived. Could Hiiro have come to care for Hilde?!

‘Yeah,’ he told him burying all the emotions that thought had stirred in him. 

‘I hope the movie didn’t upset her,’ Hiiro said softly. 

‘She seemed okay with it,’ Duo shrugged. ‘Don’t worry about it. It was a good show,’ he smiled. 

‘It’s a true story.’ 

‘…………… no kiddin?’ Hn.

‘They were considered some of the greatest hero’s in Japanese history,’ Hiiro told him. 

‘Must’ve been hard for them,’ Duo mused wondering how in the world such a relationship could have survived in such an era. 

‘Not as hard as being apart,’ Hiiro said softly before sinking down onto his pillow. 

Duo had absolutely no response to that, so he followed suit. Things were a bit more tense between the three of them the next day, so when it came time for the evening call from Tomino Hilde quickly made herself scarce. Hiiro took his usual place leaving Duo to his interview, which for some reason left him feeling somewhat annoyed. 

‘I’d like to discuss your relationship with Miss Relena tonight,’ Tomino told him setting his recorder. 

‘I stopped Hiiro from shooting her,’ Duo replied. ‘Next?’ 

Tomino laughed for a moment, then stilled when he realized he was serious. ‘According to the others you have spent some amount of time with her,’ he said checking some of his notes. 

‘We were in the same place a few times,’ he told him flat out refusing to even look at Hiiro during this discussion. ‘That doesn’t mean we spent any time together,’ he clarified. ‘You might have noticed she’s not too fond of me,’ he grinned seeming very satisfied with that fact. 

‘She does seem to blame you for a great many things,’ Tomino chuckled. 

‘Yeah,’ Duo sighed folding his hands behind his head comfortably. ‘I think she decided she hated me the moment I saved her life,’ he laughed. 

‘You honestly believe Hiiro would have killed her.’ 

Duo chuckled at Hiiro’s mock shooting of the back of the vid screen again. ‘Oh, yeah...he would’ve opened her brain pan for sure,’ he told him. ‘You see,’ he began. ‘The thing her Highness never understood was that Hiiro is a soldier first...and a man second. She just can’t comprehend that it doesn’t matter how pretty a face is if it has a hole in it. The mission was in jeopardy. He’d have killed her in a heartbeat,’ he said with confidence. It wasn’t really clear why Hiiro smiled at this, but he was glad of it just the same. 

‘I understand there was some sort of special bond that grew between them?’ Tomino asked noting the sag in Duo’s spirit at the question. 

‘I couldn’t really say,’ he told him avoiding Hiiro’s eyes. 

‘Weren’t you there when Miss Relena tracked him down and joined the school he was attending?’

‘Yeah, I was,’ Duo admitted. ‘But she was always doing things like that. The girls got it bad for him, but everyone knows that.’ 

‘And you?’

‘What?’

‘You have no special feelings on the matter?’ Tomino asked gently. 

‘What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?’ Duo snarled heatedly startling the old man. 

‘I...I just wondered how you felt about her,’ he stammered. 

‘Oh,’ Duo snorted softly feeling like a fool. Of course he meant did he have any feelings for Relena, why would he ask such a question about Hiiro!? ‘She’s a self centered twit with a hero complex,’ he told him absently while he pulled his shaken psyche back together. 

‘No love lost there,’ Tomino chuckled making a note. ‘You realize she had a few things to say about you?’ he asked covertly. 

‘No doubt,’ Duo chuckled. ‘Let me guess. I’m the root of all the world’s problems right? The hairs too long, the attitudes to childish, the skills are lacking and she can never get a moment alone with her precious Hiiro because I’m always in the way. That about sum it up?’ he asked self assuredly. 

‘Especially the part about Hiiro,’ he laughed. ‘I got the feeling he must have been using you as an excuse not to be alone with her,’ he chuckled, but his words had sucked all the humor out of Duo’s eyes while he looked over at Hiiro again. It was very obvious from his steadfast `significant look` that he was telling him that the man couldn’t have been more right. Now that he thought about it, Hiiro had always kept him close by whenever she was around. Had his feelings for her frightened him that much? ‘Quatre also said that he played the buffer between them while they were in Sanc,’ Tomino told him. ‘I’m having some difficulty working out just what there was between them. Perhaps you could shed some light on this subject?’ he asked. ‘Quatre implied that he held her in some regard and that it was this connection that eventually brought them back to earth and to her side?’

‘I wouldn’t know,’ Duo replied softly. ‘I wasn’t with them then. All I know is that he almost killed her at least three times. She has a bad habit of putting herself in situations where he felt she needed to be removed,’ he went on. ‘He didn’t do it,’ he said softly. ‘I couldn’t tell you if it was because of some deeper feelings he held or if it was just because he felt it was best for the mission. It’s hard to say since he runs after her every time she’s in trouble too,’ he said memorizing that spot of grease on the carpet again, but his mouth fell open when Hiiro’s sneaker covered it up. 

‘H...Hiiro Yui!’ Tomino gasped softly. 

‘I am not in love with Relena Peacecraft,’ Hiiro stated clearly while he held Duo’s gaze. 

*

‘Hiiro! It really is you!’

‘Hiiro!’

‘I knew you were still alive somewhere!’

‘Hiiro!’ Relena breathed pushing the rest of the company aside so she could see him on the vid phone. ‘I knew you’d come back,’ she smiled. ‘When will you return to Earth?’

‘I had not intended to contribute the chronicles,’ he told them while he sat beside Duo at his little desk. ‘However, there are some misconceptions I cannot allow to continue,’ he explained. ‘First and foremost of which is the idea that I am in love with you,’ he told the smiling girl and Duo couldn’t help feeling a huge sense of relief when his words wiped the silly grin from her face. 

‘W...what are you saying?’ she breathed backing away. ‘What’s happened?’ she asked looking very much like she needed to sit down and Duo had to fight to keep the grin from taking over. It wasn’t a very nice way to feel, but he just couldn’t help it. She’d been so smugly confident in her claim for so long he was really getting off on the poetic justice of it all. 

‘Nothing happened,’ Hiiro told her. ‘I’m sorry,’ he offered, but his voice was not soft or remorseful. ‘But I have never nor will I ever be in love with you,’ he said clearly. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse us I would like to say hello to the others,’ he added ignoring the way her expression had frozen while Quatre guided her away and Wufei took her place. 

‘Yui.’

‘Wufei,’ Hiiro smiled. 

‘Lady Une has requested...’

‘No, thank you,’ Hiiro cut him off. ‘You look well,’ he added before he could counter and the comment threw him so off balance he found no words to reply and the confusion on his brow only increased ten fold when Hiiro began to laugh lightly at his bewilderment. 

‘Hiiro,’ Trowa smiled gently nudging the stunned Wufei out of the way. 

‘Hello, Trowa.’ Duo’s chest tightened a little at the warmth in Hiiro’s tone when he greeted the tall ex-mercenary and he was forced to subdue angry thoughts of him making indecent suggestions while Hiiro was laid up healing. 

‘How’s the arm?’ Trowa asked. 

‘Right as rain,’ Hiiro replied smiling for him. ‘Quatre’s well?’ 

‘As well as can be expected,’ Trowa chuckled glancing over at where his sensitive lover was no doubt consoling the Queen of the world. 

‘Sorry.’ 

‘You can speak to him after the session,’ he reasoned and Hiiro nodded and was then faced with the kind eyes of their chronicler. 

‘Would you mind if we began with…’

‘I had every intention of shooting Relena,’ Hiiro interrupted and he sat right down in his seat, started his recorder, picked up his pen and shut the hell up. ‘She confused me. I didn’t understand her infatuation, so I was never sure just how to deal with it. Duo’s presence was the only thing that kept me from strangling her more often than not.’ Tomino stopped scribbling when sobs began to fill the air and someone, presumably Relena and Quatre, exited the room. ‘What I felt for her was no more love than what she feels for me,’ Hiiro went on. All Duo could do was sit there and stare blankly at him. For a guy that got through the war in fifty words or less he sure had a lot to say all of a sudden. ‘I don’t mean to be cruel,’ Hiiro said. ‘But this has gone on long enough and I can’t allow it to be put down in permanent records that this war was fought through a love affair that doesn’t exist,’ he told them. ‘As far as my not having killed her when the circumstance called for it,’ he said turning to face Duo as he spoke. ‘It was nothing more than a change in the circumstance. It became more advantageous to keep her alive than to allow her to die,’ he explained. 

‘But you rushed off to Libra,’ Duo countered. ‘Just because she was ….’

‘Because her brother was endangering the Earth,’ he cut in. ‘We needed her for leverage,’ he explained. ‘She was the only thing that could bring reason back to his heart,’ he explained leaning just a little closer so he could look him dead in the eyes when he stated firmly, ‘Not because I love her.’ 

‘But when she was kidnapped…’ 

‘I destroyed the mansion she was being held in,’ Hiiro reminded him. ‘Duo,’ he said gaining his full attention while he moved closer yet. ‘I went to stop a war. The fact that it was Relena that had been taken had nothing to do with it. I’d have done the same if it were any other head of state.’ 

‘Why are you telling me all this?’ Duo asked feeling his mind and heart being twisted like a piece of salt water taffy. It was all just so damn confusing. He thought he had it all straight, but now… 

‘Because,’ Hiiro told him. ‘You’re living under the perception of a lie that I can no longer accept.’ 

Well you're the one who created it!’ Duo barked suddenly, standing so fast his chair flew back across the room. ‘Why do you want to mess with my head now?! Fine! You don’t love her! Great! What in the hell does it have to do with what I believe? It’s got nothing to do with me!’ he shouted before storming from the room. 

‘Hiiro?’ Trowa questioned. 

‘Tomorrow,’ Hiiro replied still staring at where Duo had disappeared. 

‘But there are so many things I wanted to…’ Tomino’s words ceased when Trowa leaned over and disconnected the call leaving Hiiro sitting there utterly alone. 

Duo didn’t return for two full days. 

Hiiro gave in the next evening giving an account of his feelings and perceptions of the other pilots, which continued on the second day of Duo’s absence, but his words lacked any real emotion. When it came right down to it he was more than a little fond of all the others in his own way. Quatre was so smart and steadfast in his convictions. Trowa held a special place for him having been the one to watch over him while he returned from the grave. Wufei held such passion for his beliefs, but he flat out refused to discuss Duo in any way while he was absent. 

He returned in the early morning hours of that second day and crawled into the bed he and Hiiro shared without a word. They woke the next morning and went about their business as if nothing had transpired, each consoling Hilde while she pined over the unscheduled absence, but she didn’t push any harder than was necessary to let him know he was missed and important to her. Tomino’s eyes grew wide when he saw Duo sitting beside Hiiro that night in front of the vid phone, but he made no comment. 

‘Where would you like to begin?’ he asked having grown accustomed to Hiiro’s pre-planned synopsis. 

‘Why didn’t you shoot me?’ Duo asked and though he kept his eyes on the screen, his question was clearly intended for Hiiro. 

‘This was during your rescue from the lunar base,’ the chronicler confirmed. 

‘It wasn’t supposed to be a rescue,’ Hiiro interjected. 

‘It was supposed to be an execution,’ Duo supplied clearly shocking their company. ‘You didn’t fire,’ he stated. ‘Why?’ 

‘I…couldn’t,’ Hiiro said softly dropping his gaze. 

‘Why?’ Duo asked again turning to look at him. ‘Did the circumstances change? Was I more valuable alive? Why did you risk loosing us both just to save me?’ 

‘Selfish need,’ Hiiro said quietly. 

‘What’s that suppose to mean?’ 

‘I…didn’t want to loose you.’ 

‘……………………………………..’

‘It was pure selfishness,’ Hiiro explained. ‘I just couldn’t face never seeing you again.’

‘………..Yashiyuki-san.’

‘Hai,’ he answered. 

‘What is your impression of us?’ Duo asked. 

Tomino paused for a long moment to consider them before he reached out and turned his recorder off. ‘Perhaps that is a question you should be asking each other,’ he told them in his quietly guiding manor. ‘We’ll continue tomorrow,’ he smiled before cutting the connection. 

‘Duo?’ 

‘What?’

‘Do you understand now?’ 

‘………………… Show me.’ 

‘Sh…show you?’ Hiiro stammered for the fist time since Duo had met him. 

‘Yeah,’ Duo said turning to face him. ‘You implied I’m important to you,’ he told him. ‘So show me what that means.’ 

‘Duo...please,’ Hiiro pleaded. ‘I couldn’t bare it if I lost you now.’ 

‘Why would you loose me, Hiiro?’ Duo asked. ‘What’s so horrible about caring for someone?’

‘Yes, but I…’ Hiiro replied stalling while something wild and untamed washed through his eyes and a moment later he was leaning forward pressing his lips against Duo’s. ‘Do you see?’ he asked unable to open his eyes when he pulled away. ‘This is what I feel for you.’ 

‘Is that it?’ Duo asked calmly in spite of the fact that his insides were seething and rolling like a storm whipped sea. ‘Isn’t there more?’

‘Don’t tease me,’ Hiiro warned. 

‘I’m not teasing,’ Duo smiled softly. ‘You know very well I’ve been in love with you forever,’ he told him. 

‘Yes,’ Hiiro nodded swallowing visibly. ‘But I hurt you so much, and you’re my best friend.’

‘You’re not going to loose me,’ he told him gently. ‘Not ever,’ he swore catching Hiiro’s gaze. He took one look into those bottomless violet eyes and moved in for a longer, more sustained kiss that quickly opened up a whole new world for them. Hilde walked in on them in the middle of this and turned and walked right back out without saying a word, but they didn’t really notice her as Hiiro was fast pushing things towards a means to an end. 

‘Nnnn…the bed,’ Duo ground out. 

‘Really?’ Hiiro replied breathily. ‘Do you have any idea what it is I want to do right now?’ he asked. 

‘Ah, gods, I hope so,’ Duo groaned. 

Hiiro had him in his arms and in the bedroom in two seconds flat. They spent the rest of that night and most of the next day exploring different ways of satiating their desires for one another. It became clear that they were going to need a lot more time to work things out, so they decided they would move to Earth and take Une up on the Preventer’s positions. Since they had each other for a partner there was really no need to refuse any longer. The chronicles were completed some weeks later with a full account of their budding courtship included, then Tomino disappeared never to be heard from again. It was odd really, how he just seemed to vanish as quickly as he arrived, but it didn’t really matter much to them, they had each other and for Hiiro and Duo, that was all they would ever need. 

owari

**Author's Note:**

> Write it, draw it, create it, sing it, SHARE IT. ~ Sunhawk 2019


End file.
